PPLive
PPLive is a peer-to-peer streaming video network created in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, People's Republic of China. It is part of a new generation of P2P applications, that combine P2P and Internet TV, called P2PTV.
Compatibility
The PPLive program is installable on Asian and English language versions of Windows 2000 and Windows XP. By default, it uses Windows Media Player and RealPlayer. The media player that is opened depends on the type of stream.
Known problems and limitations
Since PPLive video stream depends on the network connection and peer numbers, the occasional glitch such as the short pause during the viewing or re-buffer is not unusual. In some circumstances, the stream could stop completely if source video file crashes or not enough peers available to establish a smooth streaming.
Piracy issues
A variety of contents are available through PPLive. Majority of them are categorized under Movie, Music, TV series and live TV streaming. Also available are some specialties covering Sports, News, Game Shows etc. Most available programs are in Mandarin, Cantonese or Korean. There are also increasing amount of programs based on English language, such as Hollywood blockbuster movies and popular American TV shows. All these English-speaking shows are hard-coded with Chinese subtitles.
Currently the source videos or live TV streaming in PPLive are mostly provided by 3rd parties. While most providers do not have proper authorization from the copyright holders, it is uncertain whether PPLive software itself can be held liable for contributing copyright infringement.
PPlive does attempt to block certain content, such as sports channels, and their movie channels, from IP addresses outside of China, but this is often circumvented by using an open proxy in China, and this has resulted in the CCTV channels end Eurosport being removed from PPLive
See also
- CoolStreaming - a precedent of PPLive
- tvuplayer
- Icecast
- Peercasting
- PeerCast - A similar project
- PPStream
- MediaBlog
External links
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